Eight years ago today...

This little monkey came into my life. (Eight years...how is that possible??) Look at that happy face! He was such an active, joyful baby. Always on the go and full of personality. I remember vividly the night he was born -- at 6:45pm. I had a pretty short labor -- about five to six hours. He weighed 6 lbs, 9oz. I remember feeling so tired as the night wore on, but I didn't want to let him out of my sight. I just gazed at him most of the night, amazed at everything about him. Full of love, full of hope ~~ instantly wondering how I would protect such a sweet little thing in this big, crazy world.

Now my sweet boy is anything but small. He is nearly as tall as me and we've discovered that we are nearly wearing the same size shoe! He is finishing up 2nd grade today and is incredibly smart ~ excelling at reading, spelling and math. He has a hot temper and likes to test my patience, but he is also quite sensitive and has a warm heart. He loves spending time just the two of us and we rarely get those moments. I cherish each and every one we do get.

As sad as I feel when my kids get older, I am also incredibly grateful for these past eight years and I look forward to seeing what the future holds.

So -- Happy Birthday Ryan!!! I love you more than you will ever, ever know. I hope you will always dream big and have faith in your abilities. You can do anything you set your mind to and I look forward to what life has in store for us. God bless you my boy. I love you!

Scattergories-Tagged by Valeri

So I guess I was tagged a couple of weeks ago and I just realized it (yes, I'm slow), so sorry Valeri -- but without further ado...

SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks! Here are the rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Rita
1. Famous Singer/Band: Rush
2. 4 letter word: Rule
3. Street: Rodeo Drive
4. Color: Red
5. Gifts/Presents: Rubies
6. Vehicle: Range Rover
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Rings -- as in key"rings" :)
8. Boy Name: Ryan
9. Girl Name: Rachel
10. Movie Title: Robots
11.Drink: Red Bull
12. Occupation: Real Estate Agent
13. Flower: Rose
14. Celebrity: Regis
15. Magazine: Redbook
16. U.S. City: Rockford, IL (my birthplace!)
17. Pro Sports Teams: Ravens (Baltimore)
18. Fruit: Raspberry
19. Reason for Being Late for Work: Roadwork
20. Something You Throw Away: Rotten food
21. Things You Shout: RUN FORREST RUN!
22. Cartoon Character: Rolie Polie Olie

Okay -- now I am tagging Shalini, Suzanna and Beth J!!! Have fun ladies!

Busy week, so just a quick hello...

This is a fantastically busy week (is that even a word? Fantastically?? It sounded good when I typed it and said it in my head...), but I wanted to say HELLO and post a quote -- hopefully I'll have time to post something more later this week.

It's my son's last week of school and his 8th (*sob*) birthday is Friday. I have at least a million things to do in the next four days. But I often feel like I have a million things to do, so what's new, right??

And today, I am just ITCHING to organize my scrap space a bit and to CREATE something. Anything. I want to play! Maybe during American Idol tonight...

Moving on...

My quote for today -- "I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar." -- Robert Brault

And another -- just because -- "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have a good week!

I am still here...

It has been a little too long since I last posted. I have been a little "blue" this past week, but am finally snapping out of it. When I'm down, I don't feel much like posting and I certainly don't want to bring anyone else down. So I took a little break.

A couple of days ago, I was flipping through my May issue of Creating Keepsakes and noticed a quote on an Ali Edwards layout that seemed SO perfect for me this week. I think I might frame it and keep it in my scrap space or in a spot where I can read it often. It reads:

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. (author unknown)

I love this quote. Because you know what? To me -- there is always too much "noise" -- literally and otherwise. There is always a lot of stuff creating internal and external noise in our lives. This quote just really spoke to me this week.

I have a lot of unwanted "noise" in my life. I have trouble getting through it sometimes. It can make me angry -- it can make me incredibly sad. In my worst weeks it makes me feel hopeless. But that's where my faith should and must kick in. Because somehow, I manage to finally get past it. But in the back of my mind -- I know it will be back.

So here's to finding calm in your heart.

And to all the moms who may be reading my post -- motherhood is an amazing thing, isn't it?? It is what brings me the greatest joy. I wish each of you a beautiful Mother's Day! You deserve it!

My little artist

My five-year old daughter loves to do arts and crafts (or as she used to call them -- arts and craps -- LOL!). I had to share these photos because I think she does a great job for a five-year old.

The first photo is a dog -- the second a mermaid. Am I just biased, or is she pretty good for her age? I honestly have no idea, but I know my seven-year old son always struggles with drawing (like me!) and so in contrast, I think my daughter has some real potential for artistic talent. Last night she was drawing a picture and I saw her making swirly doodles around the edges to frame it. She was so proud of those doodles and I have to say, they looked really good!

Isn't it fun to see the world through your child's eyes and artwork?? I love that they get the greatest thrill from the most simple things. You just want them to hold on to that wonder and joy about the world. Right now my kids could spend hours collecting rocks and flowers (weeds, really) from our yard and be perfectly happy. My youngest loves to sit with a cheap pinwheel he has in front of our windows and let the breeze blow through and spin that pinwheel. He laughs and laughs. Ah, to be young and carefree!

On another note -- how is it May already?? (do I say that every month -- I know I do -- I can't help it!). My son will be eight in a couple of weeks, followed shortly thereafter by my youngest turning THREE already. I'm starting to get those pangs of motherly sadness. Why oh why must they grow so fast???

I haven't shared a quote in a while, so as I leave you for today, I'll share this quote about creating....

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Hump Day!